Ten Best Kisses
by Zayz
Summary: Oneshot. James Potter reminisces about the ten best kisses he has ever received. R&R?


**A/N: Well, I was kind of bored, so I went through my binder of old writing to see if there was anything worth keeping or using in there. Then I came across this, and I thought, hey, this is a decent idea – why don't I brush it up and post it? So, that's exactly what I did, and here it is; a small piece I did a few months ago, forgot about, and rediscovered again! Enjoy, and don't forget to review!

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_Number 10_

On my list of the ten best kisses I've ever had in my sixteen year old lifetime, I think I'd rank my kiss with Kristen Nelson at number ten.

It was on my birthday last year, March 27th; the Marauders had thrown me a surprise party, complete with cake, presents, and a party in the common room that lasted until dawn, despite the fact that my birthday fell on a Tuesday. It had been lots of fun – I cut the cake after Sirius pushed me to purposely force me to fall face-first into my cake so that Remus could take a picture of it, and while I was eating it, Kristen sidled up to me. Her mouth had lots of chocolate icing still over it, but something told me she wasn't quite aware of it, which made the situation funnier than it should have been.

"Hey, James," she said, grinning at me. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks," I said back, smiling as well.

"I have a present for you," she informed me.

"Cool, thanks," I say. "What is it?"

She winked, leaned forward, and kissed me right smack on my lips.

Cliché though the gesture was, the kiss was not as horrible as it could have been, thanks to the icing I could still taste on her lips. I let go fairly quickly, and she bounced away at once, pleased to have won a kiss, but I went back to my cake without giving her much more thought.

However, once I opened the bizarre presents I'd gotten from the rest of the Gryffindors, I realized that Kristen's gift was probably the best out of the lot after all. Enough said.

* * *

_Number 9_

My ninth favorite kiss would have to be with the one I had with my ex-girlfriend from about fourth year, I reckon – it was from Stacey Olliveri, who I dated for around a month in the spring.

In the early days of my time with her, she'd desperately been wanting to kiss me, but I had been reluctant to; I wasn't yet sure if I liked her, and I didn't want to get her hopes up or anything, in case I started kissing her a lot and ended up breaking up with her. It was more for her sake than for my own, but that didn't stop her from trying to corner me all the time, attempting to steal a kiss I didn't want to give her.

However, on one particularly cloudy, secretive day after Herbology, which I have just before lunch, I was walking back to the castle with Stacey, quietly thinking about what I was going to eat – I was pretty hungry. We were running a tiny bit late, so I was picking up my pace so that I could get inside, but then Stacey stopped me.

"Hey," she said. "Can I have a quick word with you behind the greenhouses?"

"Okay." I suspected that she had more on her mind than a 'quick word,' but I played along to humor her, and allowed her to lead me to the area she had been gesturing to, among the bushes and shrubs. When we got there, she threw herself on me, and snogged me without my being able to push her off of me.

It wasn't actually that bad, I had thought to myself, as I let her kiss me. Maybe I liked her more than I thought I did. It certainly appeared so as I kissed her. I was fully prepared to go on for a little while longer, to figure out my thoughts, but suddenly, a pair of bright green eyes – the color of emeralds – came into my mind, and mysteriously rendered me incapable of kissing. I had no choice but to pull away.

Thankfully, Stacey didn't seem to mind my breaking the kiss – she'd gotten what she'd wanted, which was enough for her. She seemed to have enjoyed it; she did it once again the night before I broke up with her a few weeks later, those green eyes egging me on as I stumbled on words I didn't like saying.

Still, I had to give her _some_ credit – Stacey Olliveri has some considerable lip-talent.

* * *

_Number 8_

Number eight…that was probably Lisa Mitchell, I imagine. That was an interesting kiss – Lisa had been a very interesting girl.

Lisa had been my girlfriend for about a week in third year – the shortest time I've ever stayed with one girl; she just wasn't the right one. But, on our first date, we went to Hogsmeade for a bit of Honeydukes chocolate – Lisa loved chocolate. We shared a box of plain milk-chocolate balls in the afternoon, simply chatting for about an hour. Once we were on our way out, though, Lisa asked me a question.

"So, James…have you ever heard of besar?"

"No, what is it?" I inquire.

"This," said Lisa. She smiled at me, leaned in, and began to kiss me – first lightly, then with growing intensity. She wasn't a particularly good kisser, to be honest, but I liked that one because I learned a new word, which was always good, right? Lily Evans keeps telling me I need to expand my vocabulary after all. But otherwise, I had not liked Lisa – like I said, I didn't date her for a long period of time.

However, her Spanish skills earned her a spot on my list, which is, of course, one of the highest honors I know how to give.

* * *

_Number 7_

The rank of seventh should go to Renée Miller, definitely. Renée was the sister of Michelle Miller, a girl I'd once dated, and I have to say; Renée was the better kisser.

I found that out over this past summer; I'd spent the day with Michelle at her house while her parents were supposed to be out, and while I was there, I saw Renée. Michelle told me to ignore her presence, which was admittedly distracting, and I did…until I was leaving late at night once her parents got home unexpectedly and caught us nearly kissing on the living room couch. I was crossing through the backyard when Renée caught my movements from her back door.

"Hey, Potter!" she called, sprinting down the lawn to catch up to me.

"It's James," I corrected, waiting for her to match my pace before walking more slowly this time. "Hey."

"Michelle wanted me to say good-night from her," she informed me. "She's stuck in the house with our paranoid parents. They think she's pregnant or something."

I snicker, but say, "Oh, okay. Tell her thanks from me."

"She also wanted me to give you this." Renée came forward then, and began to kiss me.

She kissed me long and slow; we could have stayed there for a while before I thought of Michelle and those green eyes again. Her hands were everywhere – on my face, around my shoulders, in my hair. I allowed it to happen, but once her fingers got to my pant's zipper, I broke our kiss.

"Sorry," I said. "I want to stay a virgin until I'm married." To Lily Evans, I added in the privacy of my own mind.

"How boring!" Renée smacked my rear playfully. "A fantastic kisser like you should not be saying that."

She tried to kiss me again, but I didn't let her; this girl was not the right one for me, either. I was dating her _sister_, for goodness sake – why would I cheat on her so cruelly? I left the property quickly, still trying to figure out why Renée had kissed me, but I hoped that Michelle wouldn't find out and get the wrong idea – she's the better person, rather than the better kisser, and the personality matters the most.

The next morning, though, Michelle came over to my place and broke up with me in person – apparently, I'd tried to make a move on her sister and traumatized her.

Ha. She would've been higher up on the list if I hadn't had to lose Michelle over a total misunderstanding before I felt our time was up together.

* * *

_Number 6_

I've thought long and hard about which kiss deserves spot number six, since there were many candidates to choose from, but I ended up picking the one Marie Gardener gave me at Christmas in fourth year – that one had been rather fascinating.

It was on Christmas Eve, when this kiss took place. Mistletoe was scattered all over the castle, and several hundreds of girls kept trying to trap me under it every second of the day. One of them happened to be Marie; she was not only a fair kisser, but she was a bit more creative than the rest of the others had been in her approach.

"Hey James," she said one afternoon, smiling at me. "Do you fancy a chat?"

"Okay," I agreed; I couldn't see why I shouldn't.

We walked down the hall together then, and I listened to – or, pretended to listen to – Marie monologue at me the whole way. I was bored out of my mind; she really did know how to babble.

However, after a few minutes, she asked, "James do you believe in love at first?"

I was caught by surprise (as she had probably planned), but I instantly thought of Lily Evans – beautiful, vivacious, clever, overly-sarcastic Lily Evans. "Yes, I do," I told her.

"Oh good," Marie said, smiling sort of mischievously. She gestured to the mistletoe suddenly behind us. "Then you know how I'm feeling right now."

Then she kissed me; if I was honest with myself, I really, really liked it. Sure, she could use some practice, but at least she'd used my short attention span to her advantage when she tried to get the kiss – not many people think of using my weaknesses against me, and variety is always a good thing.

If I could advise her on one thing though, it would be that she might want to consider investing in a tube of Muggle chapstick.

* * *

_Number 5_

Spot five – that's the middle kiss. The kiss that wasn't particularly good, but not particularly bad either. I think the kiss with Jennifer Brownstein is the perfect example of it; that had been a relatively strange kiss.

What had happened was Jennifer had had a huge crush on me at the beginning of fourth year. It wasn't like the small ones girls nursed before her – it was _serious_, and that scared me. She was practically obsessed with me, and kept trying to get me alone with her. I'd enlisted the legendary help of Sirius to avoid her, and it worked well, until that day when I went out for a walk unaccompanied; I'd wanted a bit of thinking time. Lily and I had just finished another one of our weekly spats that usually ended in her calling me a lot of foul names and me firing insults right back at her – I liked to take a breather after those happened, since they were kind of tiring. That Lily sure knows how to argue; I hadn't pinned her down for the stubbornly-angry type of person until then.

Anyway, it was sunset – one of the most supposedly-romantic times of the day, conveniently enough – and I was staring out at the sky, lost in my own little world, when I heard someone approach me. Was it Remus or Peter? I turned around to check, but I was disappointed to see Jennifer there instead. This wasn't good. I tried to pick up my pace, but she caught up with me easily, and asked me what was wrong. I told her about what had gone down with Lily, and she was quite sympathetic to my plight. A lot of people were, honestly, but it felt nice to hear it from her, for whatever reason.

So, because she had made me feel better, I let Jen join me for my walk, and we had a few disjointed conversations, but it was mostly silent. We didn't hold hands or anything either, thank goodness – she seemed content just being with me. The weather was far too nice for this time of day and year – slightly breezy, but very warm, with the vivid sunset looming overhead. Jen was sure to make a move on me, I could feel it.

And she did, once we reached the grove of trees near the end of the path; the atmosphere was perfect and appropriately romantic, but if I'm frank with myself, I will confess that I didn't feel a thing. Not bad, but not good; that was why it was number five.

But, on the plus side, she never tried to kiss me again after that. I wondered for a while what I'd done to disappoint her, but then I thought, whatever – I never fancied her much anyway.

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_Number 4_

My fourth favorite kiss…ahhh, that was a memorable one, unquestionably.

See, I'd been out on a date with Nina Fisher, one of the best-looking girls in our year. I had been advised from Sirius to ask her out because I'd recently been kind of depressed, and I'd been extremely surprised when she agreed – but, at the same time, I was kind of glad. I didn't have a girlfriend at the time, and a date was probably a good idea to get me back on my feet. At least, that's what Sirius said, and when it comes to girls, Sirius is usually right.

I'd been enjoying myself with Nina though, once we got to The Three Broomsticks; she was really, really funny – not to mention cute when she wrinkled her nose in her laughter – and I thought about maybe asking her out again for another day too. However, while we were waiting in line at the bar to get our butterbeers, I saw this other, incredibly amazing-looking girl in the place – she was a red-haired waitress whose nametag read Christina. I have quite a weakness for red hair, and she was pretty striking otherwise as well – I nearly fell over when I saw her. I was only in third year when this happened, so I wasn't very smart when it came to women, but I did know enough to realize that Nina wouldn't approve of my flirting with another girl on our date – as an alternative to discouraging me like it should have, I decided to be a little crafty about it.

"I need a trip to the loo," I told Nina. She shrugged and I stood up; Christina was walking across the room to give another customer their drink. I pretended to stroll to the bathroom, but I 'accidentally' tripped over Christina on my way. She and her tray fell to the ground, and I landed on Christina herself, as planned.

Then, with some hesitation (I got the combined mental image of Nina's face and the customary bright green eyes, both of which were highly disapproving), I kissed her; we were both on the floor with me on top of her – it was perfect. She happened to be an excellent kisser too, and she seemed to like me back – we kissed for a while before I heard Nina shriek with horror from her spot.

"You lousy cheater!" she shouted at me. "I never want to see you again, you hear me?" She pulled me off of Christina, slapped me across the face, and stormed out of the pub on me. I watched her leave, a twinge of regret developing in my stomach; I was about to kiss Christina again, since she was quite good at what she did, but I chose not to. I left the Three Broomsticks, thoughts of three girls whirling through my mind, as well as some self-disgust; that hadn't been one of the smartest things I'd ever done. And I'd liked Nina – it was a shame.

Still, I'd been okay without her; once Sirius had found out Nina hated me, he went right ahead and made his own move on her – they ended up dating for six months, and I ended up being happier without her in my life, even if she was a lovely girl. Everyone won, obviously – and I'd received an incredible kiss in the middle too!

* * *

_Number 3_

In the final set of my best kisses, my third favorite was the one from Jessie Parker.

Jessie was my girlfriend last year, in fifth year – out of my many girlfriends, she was the one I'd kept the longest. She was the sweetest girl in the world – she was usually my main comforter when Lily fought with me for mild teasing, not even flirting – and we only broke it off because she had to move to Australia with her Muggle father. But, while we were together, Jessie and I had been eating candy together; Jess had found an exceptionally long liquorish wand at one point and showed it to me, utterly pleased with herself.

"Look, James," she said, giggling. "It's enormous!"

"It is," I agreed, grinning as I examined it. Jesse smiled and said, "Open up, Jamesie."

I laughed and obliged; she began to feed me the wand, and I began to eat it, my smile still in place. When the end of the wand was only an inch from my mouth, she started to chew as well; we were kissing before I knew it – kissing while eating liquorish. The pooled taste was wonderful – that was why she won the number three spot on my grand list.

Jessie and liquorish wands…they should make a special candy that is flavored like the two of them. I'm sure they would have a hit on their hands.

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_Number 2_

The second-best kiss…Frances Channelle, no doubt about it.

Frances was a French exchange student – she went to Beauxbatons, but came to Hogwarts for the first two months of this year to learn a bit of English. She was extremely sexy; boys constantly flirted with her or taught her how to say stupid things, making her think she was saying something different – but I was the one she took an interest in. I mean really; who would blame her? While I liked her almost at once, I tried to leave the flirting factor out of the situation – I wanted to help her with her English, I swear I did. We got on very well anyway, and one night, while we studied her English book in my dormitory a few weeks into her brief spell at Hogwarts, she smiled rather mischievously at me.

"I practice English myself, James," she told me proudly. "I ask you question, may?"

"It's 'may I ask you a question,' but yes, you can," I said, grinning.

"It is, how you say…kiss me?" Frances asked, her dark eyes glittering.

My grin got even wider. "Oui, oui."

That was all she needed; she threw me back on my bed and kissed me deeply; I, of course, didn't mind and kissed her back just as intensely, my hands on her waist, hers on my face. French girls kiss a whole lot better than British ones did, I discovered in a very delightful way; it's a good lesson to know, in case I'm ever out and about and need a girl to kiss. Hey, it could happen.

Anyway, Frances and I kissed for a few minutes more before I pulled away and looked in the eye, the better part of me winning over the part that was enjoying being with her.

"I have a girl I love who I just remembered right now," I said softly, seeing that gorgeous girl with thick auburn hair and cat-green eyes in my mind's eye. It didn't matter that her mouth was set angrily and she emanated hostility – I loved her because I knew she wasn't afraid to stand up for what she believed in, even if it was hating me. "I'm sorry."

"It is quite all right," said Frances, sitting up straight and wiping away the remains of her smeared lipstick. "I have boyfriend in Beauxbatons anyway.

"I really am sorry," I said.

"Do not worry," Frances assured me. "You good teacher – I know much English now."

"Merci," I said, bowing my head.

Frances smiled at me and then pulled out her book once more, and we continued our English lesson as though that kiss had never happened, even though we were both fully aware that it _had_ happened.

Still, even if it would never work out, Frances was always going to be a highly tremendous kisser.

* * *

_Number 1_

My top favorite kiss – that's a pretty big honor right there, to be honest. However, for that one, the girl didn't approach me – _I_ approached _her_, something I didn't do very often but had to this time around. I did it in the corridor on the way to the common room – it was at the end of the day, last Friday, and at last, I had found Lily Evans alone in a place where not many people were wandering around.

"Lily!" I called to her.

With a sigh, she turned to face me – even if we argued sometimes (though it's not nearly as bad as what went on in fourth year), she was too polite to refuse. "Yes, Potter?"

"Lil, I need to talk to you," I said as we got to the Portrait Hole and I stopped her so that I could look at her while I spoke.

"What about?" Her eyes were curious – obviously, I was urgent this time.

"Lily Evans, I've dumped every girlfriend I've ever had because I love you," I blurted out after a moment's indecision. "You've never let me tell you, but now I have, and I feel better for it; I needed it off my chest."

There was a queer look in her eye. "Really?"

"_Yes_," I said fervently, relieved that this had some effect on her. "Why do you think I never have a girlfriend for very long? I love _you_, not them." The conversation was going too quickly for my liking, but things I hadn't said but should have were now bursting out without any control, now that she had opened her ears to me. She'd never done that before. "I've loved you for ages, and every time a girl kissed me, I've always wished it was you. Do you believe me?"

She was in quite a predicament now – it was written all over her eyes – but like me, she decided on giving me the truth. Blushing profusely, she said, "Well, yes. You've kind of grown on me, James – every boy I've dated these days somehow manages to remind me of you too."

"Really?" These were stunning words to come out of Lily's mouth – she'd spent years building her reputation to hate me and everything I stood for, and here she was, telling me that she liked me, in so many words. I hardly dared to believe it.

"Yes." She gave me a very pretty, shy sort of a smile, and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I didn't know how to tell you; I'm glad you found me and told me first."

I could feel a very silly grin start to form on my face. "So…you like me, and I like you. Where does this leave us?"

Lily's eyes sparkled – they were more stunning than an ocean could ever be, with their many shades of green blending together into an intricate mosaic. "I think it leaves us somewhere here," she said.

Then, at long, long last, she leaned in and I pulled her close to me, and our lips met somewhere in the middle – hers soft, but firm against mine.

It was just _right_. No matter how much I had liked kissing other girls, I knew, at that moment, that it was Lily that I was made to kiss, and no one else. It was warm, secure, and infinitely sweet; I kept thinking of vanilla cream as I explored her mouth, enjoying it immensely. I'd dreamed of this moment many times before, but it was so much better when I was actually _in_ it. I wrapped my arms around her, prepared to stay there for hours – days, even – when the Portrait next to us suddenly opened, revealing us sharing our first kiss to all the Gryffindors. People gasped, wolf-whistled, and clapped at the sight of us, but it didn't matter much; I was kissing the girl I loved, and that was all I needed. Everything else could wait.

"Potter and Evans! Finally!" someone shouted out to us, and that was when we pulled apart at last. Lily smiled at me and whispered, "I guess that after all I've said, you're my type after all."

Resisting the urge to swoop down and kiss her again, I smiled back and said teasingly, "I told you so."

I squeezed her hand tightly, and together, Lily Evans and I walked into the common room to get our peers off of our backs and, if we could, have a few minutes in privacy to get to know each other again. We had a bit of catching up to do.

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**A/N: I wasn't entirely happy with the pacing/ending of the final kiss, but I think other than that, it didn't go too badly! Haha, it was a lot of fun writing this one; I hope it was fun for you to read. :) Be sure to review, and thanks for reading!  
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